Michael Fraser: Burglary Hotspots

National Home Security Month

It’s October already; the days are getting colder, the nights are drawing in and (dare I say it?), there are only 78 days left till Christmas!

This year, October marks National Home Security Month, raising awareness of how to keep your home and family safe during the darker evenings. And, to coincide, we’ve taken a look at the part wooden blinds can play in home security.

What’s in a postcode?

This article on the Guardian’s Data Blog explores the Office of National Statistics’ most recent crime figures for England and Wales, and we thought we’d take up their challenge; “We’ve extracted the key figures… What can you do with them?”

Focusing specifically on burglary, we created the infographic, below, showing the burglary rates in each of England and Wales’ police force areas.

Much has been written about Money Supermarket’s survey of the UK’s burglary insurance claim hotspots. Surprisingly, ten of the top twenty postcodes for burglary insurance claims fall within West Yorkshire; home to Wooden Blinds Direct’s base in Wakefield and the county dearest to our hearts! So, naturally, we were keen to discover the reasons why…

Beat the burglar

We were lucky enough to speak to home security expert and star of the BBC’s ‘Beat the Burglar’, Michael Fraser, and have detailed his opinions on the proliferation of burglary within South and West Yorkshire. Michael also gave us some simple burglar-deterrent tips and considerations, showing how home security can, and should, start at a grass roots level, and we’d very much like to thank him for his time and input.

Please click on the infographic to see a larger version.

To learn more about National Home Security Month, including a link to Yale’s free Crime Watcher app, click here.